In the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 7, 2011, Karen Tanner awoke to
the choking atmosphere of her family’s home filled with both smoke and heat. She shook
her husband, Ryan, to wake him, grabbed her cell phone for some light to be able to see,
and ran for their two sleeping children, Drew and Hailey. Karen and the children made it
outside with Ryan appearing shortly thereafter. After ensuring her family was safe, she
went back to the front door and called for the family dog, but, unfortunately, the dog’s
whereabouts is unknown at this time.
The fire is thought to have started in the basement and had so much momentum that by
the time the first fire responder arrived, approximately seven minutes after the call was
received, massive flames were showing through the burned out rooftop. Thankfully, every
family member was accounted for when the first fire fighter arrived. As fire equipment
arrived, fire fighters focused their efforts on protecting the surrounding homes and
ensuring the fire did not spread.
In the aftermath of the fire, the Tanners were left with no home for their family to live in
and absolutely no belongings as the fire had consumed it all. As I learned more about
their plight, I realized that losing everything they owned means not only no clothes, no
shoes, no toys, no furniture, but also no purse for Karen (ladies - think about what we
carry in our purses), no wallet for Ryan (guys - what do you carry? identification, cash,
bank cards…), no key to the family car (I never thought of that one), no homework or
special toys or blankets for Drew and Hailey, and for the older college-age son, Austin,
away at SEMO, everything he left behind gone and no home to come back to after finals
are over this semester.
Beginning with the day of the fire, news media ran the Tanners’ story of their loss, and
the calls and donations began to come in. There has been an amazing rally of support for
the Tanner family from our community and generous souls have walked in our fire station
doors with personal checks, some making the drive from as far away as Swansea, IL; St.
Peters, St. Charles, and Eureka, MO. The outpouring of love and caring for the Tanners
has been overwhelming to say the least.
Monetary donations in the form of cash, gift cards, and checks (made payable to:
Antonia Fire Fighters Association) are being accepted. Donations of clothing,
household goods, toys, and so forth can also be made. If you have larger items, such as
furniture (which the family cannot accommodate right now), you may leave your name
and contact information and we will pass it on to the family for them to make contact with
you when they get to a point where they can be put the items to good use. Any donations
that do not accommodate the family’s needs (such as clothing that doesn’t fit) will be
passed on to other organizations where they can be used to help someone else who may
be in need.
Clothing sizes for the family members are as follows:
- Drew - boy, age 6: clothing size 6, shoe size 13
- Hailey - girl, age 8: clothing size 12/14, shoe size 2
- Ryan - man: pant size 38 x 34, shirt size 2X, shoe size 11
- Karen - woman: clothing size 16, shirt size XL, shoe size 9
Our district’s fire fighters association has also adopted the Tanners as one of its
Christmas families we will be helping this season. Santa Claus will be helping to deliver
Christmas to the family as best it can. Our fire fighters association members have been
helping by organizing a collection point for any donations to help the family at Station #2,
located at 6633 Moss Hollow Road, Barnhart, MO 63012.
In speaking with Karen a couple of days after the fire, she talked to me about how she got
her family out of the burning home. She knew all about “stop, drop and roll,” she knew
about crawling low through the smoke, but when put to the test on that Wednesday
morning, all she could think of was getting her family out the door. All of the things she
and her children had learned about escaping from a fire eluded her in those first few
minutes of panic. She said every family should practice what to do in a fire situation so
that it will be second nature if there’s ever such a need for them.
If you would like to make a donation to the Tanner family or if you have questions about
how you can better protect your family and home from fire, please feel free to contact the
Fire Prevention Office here at Antonia, phone: 636-948-4433.
